Pig Tails and Boxer Shorts: Booboo

I’m blaming it on the fact that in a few short days I’m going to be 35 and I admit that I’m a huge bundle of emotional mess. Or maybe I’ll blame it on not enough sleep instead of getting old. Or maybe it’s all the changes that are going on in our life. One minute I’m laughing hysterically at something my kids say or do, the next I’m just before tears at something they say or do. It’s all just happening so fast. It’s so cliché but it’s also so true.

Seems like yesterday that I decided to stay home and be a full time mommy. Not long after that our world was blessed with another little boy that stole my heart the moment the Ambien wore off (I’ll post about that fiasco another day). He came into the world a whopping 9 pounds with a head full of dark hair. Taylor was convinced that we were naming him Froopie but soon after we brought him home he was renamed Booboo. I’m still not sure how that happened but it stuck. Bless his heart, he’s been called Booboo for 5 years and now he’s off to kindergarten and people are calling him Landon for the first time in his life. It’s a nice name but he’ll always be Booboo to us.

I wonder if I did him an injustice by never putting him in preschool or day care. I felt like when I was staying home that being a full time mommy was my job. I didn’t think anyone else should take care of my babies. Now I wonder though if it was fair to him that he’s never been in a classroom and he’s never been left with anyone other than family or friends for any length of time.

I dropped him off this morning at school and didn’t walk him to his class. The moment I drove away I regretted that decision. I have thought about this day for a while now and had decided it would be better for him if I just drop him off and let his big brother walk him to class. It would allow him to go straight to his class without clinging to me and both of us ending up in tears. I believe the plan worked except I still had a few tears.

Ya know, on second thought I’m glad I never put him in day care or preschool. I don’t regret a single moment that I spent sitting on the chair nursing him while Taylor snuggled up on my lap or teaching him how to write “Booboo” instead of Landon. I don’t regret a single play group or getting to experience him dressing as Spider Man for 7 months straight. It may take him a little longer to warm up to kindergarten than some of the other kids but I know he’ll be fine. As I wipe the tears from my face thinking about the last 5 years that I was blessed to be “just a mommy” I am so thankful (and emotional). I can’t wait until this afternoon when I can hear all about his day and then tonight when I can snuggle up next to him just like when he was a baby (minus the nursing).

Here are a few pictures from Booboo’s ½ day last week. He cried that morning but it turned out to be a great time for him getting to know his teachers and a couple of his new friends.